Tomorrow night students will bring the stage to life in their performance of a modernized historical drama.
“The Living,” the University’s first main-stage production of the season, will premiere Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Reilly Theatre.
Director George Judy said the play captures the overlooked story of London’s Great Plague of 1665, when the bubonic plague became the ruin of humanity.
He said the playwright puts a contemporary twist on classical themes, which the audience will be able to relate to.
“It shows the human response to natural disaster,” he said. “The viewers will see their own stories on stage.”
Lindsey Lanson, theatre performance senior, said the story is so intense that she gets winded after each scene.
“You can’t even imagine what [the plague] was really like,” she said. “It has a lot to do with courage.”
Judy said the plague brings out the best and the worst in the characters.
Lanson said it is difficult to play her dishonest character who compromises her morals under the pressure of the plague.
She also said the story is dramatic because it shows the raw truth in everyone.
Judy said some characters approach the plague by reaching out to one another. He also said they face a conflict as they struggle to find the tools for survival.
“They ultimately look to each other for survival, but they can’t touch each other [because of the plague].”
Taylor McLellan, theatre performance sophomore, said this conflict creates a sense of isolation.
“You’re alone,” he said. “You become numb from the loss, heartbreak and hurt.”
Judy said once the “unsettling” tone is established, the audience will see “humanity and energy.”
He said the characters use light comedy as a defense mechanism in the face of disaster.
“There is a sense of trying to find dry humor in pain,” McLellan said.
Lanson said every aspect of the show is true to the time period, from the carefully chosen music to the realistic costumes.
Judy and Lanson said the modern set is unique to the classical British era.
“The set forces the audience to imagine what the town actually looked like,” Lanson said.
Judy said the play is relative to today’s tragedies like Hurricane Katrina and Sept. 11.
“We are surrounded by terrors more than ever and searching for ways to endure,” he said. “The tools to do that are supplied in this play.”
McLellan said his favorite line from the script relates to the human will to survive: “We do what we can with what we’re given. God has to know that, he’s not an idiot.”
McLellan and Lanson said the cast is ready to perform for the public.
“We love when the community appreciates what we do,” Lanson said. “We want others to share in our creativity.”
“The Living” will feature a matinee Sunday at 2 p.m. The show will run next week from Sept. 25-29 at 7:30 p.m., along with a final performance on Sept. 30 at 2 p.m.
Tickets can be purchased online, at the Union ticket office or at the Swine Palace/LSU Theatre ticket office. Ticket prices are $8.50 for students, $13.50 for seniors and $15.50 for adults.
—Contact Lindsay Gallmann at [email protected]